inserting form select w/ multiple options into mysql

[Smirks]

Howdy,

I've decided to play around w/ php and mysql tonight and I'm trying to get something working, but I can't figure it out. I'm a beginner at this stuff, so perhaps I'm just doing it all wrong.

I have a simple database w/ one table that contains a name (varchar(30)) and a list of dates in the format mmddyyyy seperated by spaces. Example:

 
+--------+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| name   | dates							  |
+--------+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Joe	 | 04282003 04302003 05032003 07022003 07052003 07082003 07092003 |
+--------+----------------------------------------------------------------+

Now, I'm trying to create a from to input rows into that table in that format. I'm specifically having a hard time returning the dates to be inserted properly.

I have a select form like this:

<select name=\"dates[]\" size=10 multiple>
  <option value=04282003>04/28/2003<br>
  <option value=04302003>04/30/2003<br>
  <option value=05032003>05/03/2003<br>
  <option value=07022003>07/02/2003<br>
  <option value=07052003>07/05/2003<br>
  <option value=07082003>07/08/2003<br>
  <option value=07092003>07/09/2003<br>
</select>

Now when the form submits it puts all the results into an array, afaik. How can I extract the values from this array so they are suitable for inserting into the database?

I've been workin on this for a few hours, and I think I'm close, but I just can't get it!

Thanks!

[mr e]

i think you'll have to assign each option a name and then use the name as the variable to put into the db

[Icheb]

Why not use MySQL's possibilities for relational datastructure?

Have two tables:
Table 1 with the columns userid and username.
Table 2 with the columns userid and dates.

Read up on JOINs in your favorite MySQL book or on www.mysql.com .

[Smirks]

Why not use MySQL's possibilities for relational datastructure?

Have two tables:
Table 1 with the columns userid and username.
Table 2 with the columns userid and dates.

Read up on JOINs in your favorite MySQL book or on http://www.mysql.com .

'Cause I'm not up to that point yet.

I want to make it work very easily and simply like this, then I'll work on ways to make it better.

Other than that, implode() was the function I was looking for.

$array = implode(" ","$dates");